Wednesday. Benchmark workout Barbara. Time, 34.36.
This has been in my plans for some time and was thinking about doing it earlier this week too. Got to say the day wasn't ideal as my core was smashed from Monday's ghd's and hip flexors were aching too. However, that's life and you just have to deal with it. Don't bitch about it, just do it.
At first I thought pull-ups and push-ups would be the deal breaker here, and sit-ups and squats would be the easier part. It turned out to be quite the opposite. Those were the easier parts of these 4 elements. First two rounds were unbroken on the pull-ups, then 15-5, fourth round started with 13-4-3 pull-ups and the last one was 10-4-3-3 reps.
On the push-ups I got through mostly something like 10-15 reps on the first try, then 5's before relaxing the tension, until I reached 30 reps. This was the plan which I was able to carry through alright.
Rounds 1-3
But the sit-ups and squats. Damned they got me. And usually any kind of sit-ups are my strong part so this was not cool to witness. My core was still sore from Monday's ghd's so that definitely had an effect. The first round went okay but already on the second one I had to start breaking them up. And lost a ton of seconds / minutes in the long run because of that.
Rounds 4-5
Sit-ups also made my hip flexors tight. It was awkward trying to get up from the floor right after sit-ups =) Squats got tough too. Legs were burning for sure but those hip flexors were the issue. Wasn't able to keep going, felt so nasty in there. This is a good benchmark workout, as they all tend to be. Haven't found a benchmark wod that would be a waste of time. Bad ass workouts all around.
Monday. Push jerk 5x10 (up to 70kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 1min SkiErg, 1min Row, 1min air squats.
I was on a business trip to Tallinn, Estonia, for the second time in less than 2 weeks. We hit the gym with Ville and Fredu after work. Luckily there is also a place for more functional fitness even though it's pretty much a "globo gym" type of place.
Overhead.
Push jerk 5x10 @ 60, 65, 70, 65, 60kg
Couple of longer sets of putting a barbell overhead. There was lack of space and people came close to me. Too close if you ask me considering I was having a barbell on front rack. Anyway it felt good to put some weight on straight hands. Built up to 70kg and then came back to 60kg as a pyramid.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
1min skierg
1min row
1min air squats
God damnit I love that SkiErg machine. It simulates as you were cross-country skiing which is basically the thing what people do in Finland during winters. I've always hated that sport though =) Last time when I was on skis was as a little kiddo in elementary school. This SkiErg is a killer of a machine. Definitely shoots the triceps, burns legs and forces to breath heavy.
There were 3 of us, one for each station, and then we rotated between the stations after every 60 seconds. I have no idea what the pace on the SkiErg was. Rowing was somewhere at 1:46 pace. Squats were 35 on the first round, then 32 for the next two rounds, next was 33 and the last one was clearly the most efficient with 43 reps. Huh, my legs were so numb after the last squats. Hard to describe.
Had to go to the doctor today as I don't have any more patience with the right wrist. I'm missing cleans and front squats too much to just wait for it to recover. The doc stuck a needle in there and sucked some stuff away to get the bump settled down. I got to take it easy for a while with the wrist so it was only natural to squat today.
Strength.
Safety bar back squats 8x5 @ 122kg
Don't know if you guys are familiar with this barbell. The form is definitely different than a regular barbell. Rogue has created bar that is shaped in another format. And the big thing is the collar of the bar. That allows to keep wrists in straight angle and torso in a very upright position, thus at least theoretically create most of the pressure on the legs. And due to this reason maybe allow people to load more weight on this bar than a regular barbell.
The bar itself weighs 31.7kg so I had a notch over 120kg on the sets. For me this felt a bit odd as it was the first time doing this type of squats. It put more pressure on the core in my opinion. Not sure though but that's how it felt. I'll have to take another test run at this little thing later this week.
I'm happy I was able to squat today. And that they have this bar at OPC. What a great gym indeed. Luckily there was a coach available to give some tips on this one too.
Tuesday. Back squat triples (up to 140kg). Overhead strength singles (up to 90kg). Emom x 20min: 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 air squat. Accessory, 3rds of: 12 reverse hyper, 90sec rest, 10 ghd's with pause, 90sec rest.
Long session at the gym. Everything went as planned, and I left with a big smile. It took a while to go through all the planned work but there was no rush so I took my time to improve my fitness level. Squats to kick off the session, then overhead work. Metcon was mental more than anything, and finally some accessory work to strengthen core and lower body.
Strength.
Back squat triples (100, 115, 130, 140, 140, 140kg)
Now I decided to start the session with back squats so my back wouldn't get tight in the process. This worked well, and body felt great for back squats. The first sets were obviously light. It's always awesome to see that 130kg is no biggie for a set. I still remember a time when it was a bit shaky even for a single. There's been a clear development.
Next station was at 140kg. Wasn't light. For sure. But I nailed those anyway, somehow =) Form wasn't beautiful but I'm glad anyway of hitting the weights as planned. I had the option of putting some extra kilos on the barbell if the first set of 140kg would have come up more easily. But the first set was somewhat a battle so I decided to keep it at the same weight for each set.
Recap
Overhead.
Shoulder press 1-1-1 (across 60kg)
Push press 1-1-1 (across 70kg)
Push jerk 1-1-1 (across 80kg)
Split jerk 1-1-1 (across 90kg)
Good one to get some action overhead. Weights were a bit conservative. I mean for singles. Started on strict press, then made it a notch easier by every round by changing the style how to put the bar overhead. But the twist was to add 10kg each time.
This felt great and at this very moment it feels good to do this as some sort of progression. Add little weight per movement and try how far it's possible to go. Push press was relatively the easiest of these four styles when taken into consideration the weight being handled. I took a video of each press/jerk so you'd witness it too. It's been time since jerking serious weight so it felt kind of funny to go at 90kg. Quite steady but I felt it hasn't been possible to jerk heavy lately.
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 20min
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 air squats
As you probably know this resembles one benchmark workout. Called Cindy. That is a 20min amrap of the mentioned movement pattern. This was a modified version of doing it in emom style. Even though it was kind of easier, it was still horrible towards the end. It took 31-33 seconds each round to complete the required amount of work so that was as solid as it can be. No difference between rounds.
It just started to burn muscles round by round towards the end more and more. Somewhere in the middle it started to get mental. Pretty much in the same way as in Cindy. I remember last time completing that one, I was mentally exhausted at 8 minutes =) But managed to push through that dark place and come back to a happy place.
Pull-ups were the easiest part of this one. Push-ups started to feel like they are going to kill my triceps. Managed to get them unbroken still. Air squats were not nice either in the end. Kept the breathing high and legs burned. Not as much as I had anticipated but still there was good tension in lower body. Got to say these nanos are darn good in all possible movements you need in crossfit. They are made for squatting! And jumps are also good so I dare to declare these the best shoes ever.
Metcon needed no barbell this time. Pull-up bar and bodyweight movements
Accessory.
3 rounds of:
12 reverse hyper
90 second rest
10 ghd sit-up with 2 second pause at parallel on both descent and ascent
90 second rest
Accessory work to strengthen core and posterior chain. It was nice to have time to work on this kind of extra work. Reverse hypers to put more pressure on posterior chain, and ghd's were done in a different style. That made a big time difference. Regular ghd's with a pause at parallel level on both ways, up and down. Good burn on the core!
Saturday. 3-position snatches (max 50kg). Metcon, 30min amrap of: 400m row, 2rds of Cindy. Result, 8rds + 100m row.
Home sweet home. I went back to the old gym because there was a lot of seminars and lectures at the new place so I suppose there's gonna be tons of people and no room for workout. Today's agenda was snatches and then a steal from Pat Sherwood. Long workout as I like to have one on weekends. It was a killer one huh huh.
Snatch.
3-position snatches
High hang
Mid-thigh
Floor
Weights @ 40, 45, 50, 50, 50, 50kg
There was plenty of time today to whatever so I got a chance to do snatch work and then a long workout afterwards. There are many ways to practice snatches. This time it was a 3-position snatch drill. That means 3 snatches without letting go of the barbell between reps. Starting from the pocket, 2nd lift was from mid-thigh and the 3rd one from the floor.
I felt pretty good about these snatches. As you see, there's a lot of technical issues still. And there is probably be those for a long time but the development is what I'm interested in. This movement has gone to a better direction this year. Why is that? Because I've practiced it. Surprise surprise. And mobility seems to get better all the time.
On some of the reps I had issues getting below parallel but mostly that didn't cause any problems. Warm-up was long and thus it enabled better mobility and better movement mechanics. It was very encouraging that the weight itself wasn't heavy. Felt quite comfortable in general today with this movement. Purpose was not to go as heavy as possible.
Snatches
Metcton. Result, 8 rounds + 100m row
30min amrap of:
400m row
2 rounds of Cindy (1 round is 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats)
I saw this at Pat Sherwood's Insta page and first instinct was that this doesn't look that bad. Then after 5 seconds I also realized hey c'mon this is Pat's page. These are never easy. Thinking about it up closely rowing / running makes each workout suck big time. This was actually originally running instead of rowing but there was no possibility for that today. Didn't wanna run on a treadmill.
Cindy is a 20min amrap of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 air squats. Pat has ingeniously added rounds of Cindy on workouts from time to time. There is some twist that those bodyweight reps bring to a workout. The purpose of this workout was not go all out from the very first second. It was gonna be a long one, and a miserable one.
This got ugly at around 10 minutes. Got to say I was in deep waters at this point. Luckily there was one training partner to talk me up. Small words in correct place can have a huge influence. I decided to ignore the voices in my head, close my eyes and keep moving forward. After some time the workout was over. This was mentally challenging wod for sure.
Rowing wasn't even the worst part. My guess was that it's gonna be as miserable as it can get. Somehow it was the bodyweight work between row sets. I suppose running outdoors could have been even nastier. Go figure. It was something between 3-4 minutes per round. Rowing was 1.50+ pretty much all the time. Unbroken on Cindy's. There was a total of 3.300m row, 80 pull-ups, 160 push-ups and 240 squats.
Sunday. Strength, back squat, find 1RM (max PR 150kg). Metcon, 3x3min amrap, with 1min rest between amraps of: 3 burpee, 6 pull-up, 9 air squat.
I've been dreaming of this day, have been desperate about it and waiting for it eagerly. And finally it came true, back squat PR of 150kg!!! This is truly something that's been knocking in the back of my head for a long time. I'm very happy about this single lift. It's funny how one repetition in human life can bring such a joy =)
I took couple of weeks Smolov squat program. I don't usually do any programs but rely on crossfit's fundamentals; constant variety. Keep on doing different types of workouts, with different movement combos, different rep schemes, different time domains, different loads. But for some unknown reason this Smolov thing got to my head sometime in the spring time and stuck there for couple of months. I decided to give it a shot and it most definitely wasn't an easy walk but somehow I enjoyed it a lot anyway. There were a lot of benefits to this program.
I tried that one rep max right after having finished the Smolov but that was too soon. When I began Smolov, I entered my 1 rep max at 145kg which was the truth, that was my PR number. Had I tried that number a day before Smolov started, I don't think I would have made it a successful lift. The lifts during the program were based on that 145kg so it probably was a little over what I should have been squatting. Anyway, I tried to top my previous max load right after the last squats were done in that intensity period but it might have been too soon as I failed in 150kg lift. However, 140kg lift that time was the easiest I've done in my life. And about a week ago I took a triple at that weight.
My legs were smashed in the end of this training week after all those benchmark workouts. Yesterday was a day off for me and it got me thinking my legs might recover enough to get that new record in the books. I usually don't take days off because I just love to train. That's as simple as that. I love the feeling of working out and it gives me the highs I'm looking for in life but once in a while it's okay to let the body chill out and recover. I felt the difference in my legs immediately waking up today. No soreness in anywhere in my body, that was a strange feeling =)
Take a look at the videos of today's lifts. It was light up to 140kg, after that I needed to push it to get the reps done. The last rep was probably the slowest back squat the world has ever witnessed. But I got it done on my own, didn't need any help from my spotter. Last time Pauliina had to touch my ribcage during the lift a bit but today she stayed away and let me done my thing.
Metcon.
3x3min amrap of:
3 burpee
6 pull-up
9 air squat
Result, 93, 93, 96 reps
This was a great workout for sure! Very good metabolic conditioning workout. My breathing was heavy and legs were burning. It was a bit surprising my upper body felt pretty fine all the way. There was a total of 54 burpees, 93 pull-ups, 135 squats so it was kind of funny how I got to sneak a good number of pull-ups done in a short time.
Probably the toughest part of these three movements were the squats. This was similar as to benchmark workout Chief - which btw is a freaking awesome workout - with 3min amraps with 1min rest between sets. The elements were just different. I wanted to have pull-ups, that was the main element around which I constructed the rest of it. Ideally I liked to see myself rocking this for 5 amraps but my training partner was rushing me to pack up my gear and get going haha =)
Back squat recap
Had no idea how many reps I would be able to complete in 3 minutes. In the first amrap it was 5 rounds + 3 burpees. On the second one I tried to stick to that and actually I got exactly the same amount of reps. The last amrap was obviously the toughest as the 1min recovery after second cycle felt much shorter and I entered the last amrap with heavy heart beat before the first rep. After having completed 5rds + 3 burpees on the 6th round I checked the timer and it said there are couple of seconds left so I had time to do 3 more pull-ups and thus get the best result in the last set.
Saturday. AM: Strength, back squat singles (max 135kg). Workout, thruster ladder emom style (40-60kg). Gymnastics, 4x15 unbroken t2b's. PM: Running endurance workout, total of 6.000m running.
Pauliina left to host a bridal shower for her close friend who's getting married in October. I drove them to couple of places but other than that the day was dedicated to training on my behalf. I dropped the girls downtown in the morning and headed to the gym afterwards. My goal was to do squats and thrusters, lots of weight on the bar in total. I spent the rest of the day in Klaukkala and after eating for couple of times I headed to the track and field.
My intention was to hit it heavy and maybe get somewhere over 140kg. Every time I intend to do singles, I end up lower compared to hitting for example triples and then couple of singles at the end of those triples. Somehow my legs probably aren't as fresh and warmed up as they are after sets of heavy squats. These singles felt heavy from the very beginning and it was a battle to stand up with the load.
I'd still like to see my legs have become stronger. In front squats I just got a PR and my clean has come up steadily on which I partly give credit to my legs. Same with the deadlift. Just need to get used to heavier loads on my back. That's the reason why after singles I overloaded the barbell and took these squats that look stupid and kind of feel too, but the point is to get used to having this much load on back rack position. Half squatting those give hope of getting them one day up atg-style.
Thrusters.
With a running clock, in every 2 minutes complete the following:
8 thrusters, 60kg
8 thrusters, 60kg
8 thrusters, 60kg
10 thrusters, 50kg
10 thrusters, 50kg
10 thrusters, 50kg
12 thrusters, 40kg
12 thrusters, 40kg
12 thrusters, 40kg
This was great! It was kind of every minute on the minute style workout, with 1 min rest between. So more like "1min on, 1min off". I decided the reps scheme before starting the workout. On the first minute I id 8 thrusters with 60kg, second minute was recovery, third minute same 8x60kg, fourth minute rest, and one more set with 60kg on the fifth min. During the 6th minute I took 10kg off the bar and continued with 10x50kg sets. It took a total of 18 minutes.
Those sets felt tough, as they were ought to be! It was the point =) It would have sucked if it was a walk in the park. 60kg thrusters are always a pleasure. Hero workout Seven includes 49 reps of those, done it couple of times. Eight reps were okay, the third one was bad.
After I dropped to 50kg I added the reps to 10 at the same time. It was clearly lighter but those 2 extra reps were noticed by my shoulders. They burned about the same as with the first weight class. The last load - 40kg - is something you sometimes see in a workout and was obviously a good thing to be part of this workout, and not only heavy thrusters.
Gymnastics.
4 x 15 reps, toes-to-bar
Some core work in the end. This is a good movement and teaches body control as well. If you don't manage your body well, you end up swinging back and forth without a destination. I took 4 sets of 15 t2b's. Easy work, nothing too taxing. The thruster session was already a real pain cave.
Running.
1.200m moderate, 200m slow, 400m hard, rest 3min
1.000m moderate, 200m slow, 400m hard, rest 3min
800m moderate, 200m slow, 400m hard, rest 3min
600m moderate, 200m slow, 400m hard, rest 3min
Total of 6.000m run. Plus 1-2km jog before and after workout
The weather was disastrous at one point, it was raining like it hadn't rained ever before. It lasted for couple of hours and then all of a sudden, the sky was clear at points and it was brisk air, easy to breathe. Perfect for outdoor training! I headed to the local track and field place.
I saw the workout at NC Endurance IG-page. Those are mostly created by the man I've talked before. Man behind NorCal Crossit's endurance programming, Chris Hinshaw. Every workout I've done written by him have been awesome. This was great too. Purely running. Definitely not a strength of mine. I used to he an okay runner back when I played floorball. That's because we used to run before every training session, about. Since starting crossfit, I've neglected this element way more.
The pacing of this workout was more like a subject of conscious. It's difficult to determine for example "moderate" pace. Slow was like recovery jog, moderate was probably like a good metcon pace. And then hard was something close to a final sprint in a long running metcon. In the beginning running felt more sticky but I got loose after the first round. Had a huge cramp in my left thigh after first round but I was able to manage it away.
Monday. Strength, front squat (max PR 135kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 7 deads (120kg), 30 air squats, 7 hspu. Time 9.09.
Getting back to the barbell. The question is what to do with it. And the natural answer is to squat! It was awkward to hit the gym at about 16.00 and there was no one else but me and Pauliina. Usually there's about 5-10 other people and maybe more on Mondays. Well, we worked for a while together before people started pouring in. I was still thinking whether to go for front or back squats after warm-up. Somehow it ended up in front squat, it felt more natural at that given moment, and I'm happy I did so. It was PR time! Afterwards a metcon I remember having seen done by legend Chris Spealler long time ago.
The King. Picture: @Rubywolff
Strength.
Front squat
2x100, 110, 110, 115, 115, 120, 120kg
1x125, 130, PR 135kg
My goal was to do 7x2 reps, building up to a heavy double. I did exactly that. For some reason the first 120kg set felt heavier than the second. Pauliina was spotting the latter one, maybe it was just mentally lighter because of she securing the lift. I was about done but my lady asked why did I do another 120kg set instead of going heavier. What can I answer to that? She pushed me to go harder so I did.
Next stop at 125kg which felt light. She didn't give any slack: "put more weight on the bar". Yes sir. Next lift of 130kg was tight, no doubt it was heavy. My previous one rep max was 132.5kg so we were close. At this point I was done with the squats. I had the metcon looming in my sight already, anxious to hit it. But she had not had enough. "Today we'll take a new PR!"
Haha I love this woman. For a lot of reasons. But this was just something crazy. She was looking for that new record breaking lift and I couldn't disappoint her. Her eyes were glowing so I tried to answer with passion. Caught my breath, approached the bar, lifted it up, squatted and stood up, as simple as that. I'm very happy I was able to nail it! Old man can still make it happen =)
Squatting. Couldn't get the last lifts on video because there were too many people
Metcon. Time 9.09
5 rounds of:
7 deadlifts, 120kg
30 air squats
7 handstand push-ups
This is something I have seen at least one year ago. It was some sort of throwdown where Chris Spealler was part of. This legend, bodyweight ninja, crushed the workout in just a matter of minutes. He was "a bit" faster than me, no surprise there. This same workout popped up couple of days ago in some site where I was visiting. Probably competitorstraining.com. I didn't remember the specifics but the rep scheme was this.
I went unbroken with the deadlifts each round. It's been a while since deadlifting last time. I took couple of reps prior to the workout with 100-120kg. It was mediocre weight. In a workout like this it starts to weigh more and more towards the end. Squats were bodyweight stuff. I had anticipated these to become an issue. I'm not saying they weren't but I got them unbroken too. It felt like the pace was getting slower towards the end. However, that seemed not to be the story as I look at the round times.
My first round was something like 1:35, and from then on the remaining rounds were about 1:50 per round, couple of seconds over that. That satisfies me a lot. Being able to keep up the pace with all the movements for the entire 5 rounds feels super. I don't wanna go running out of the gates but have a motor that can keep on running for longer time. It's a different game when you have a short workout.
Last Update Show of the Games
Handstand push-ups were the easiest of these movements. I was surprised I got them done so effortlessly, every round. Okay, there were "only" 35 reps in the workout but having a steady pace all the time might have brought more pressure on my shoulders but that was not the case. My legs were smashed after the workout but shoulders were feeling good. Breathing got heavy for sure but still manageable. Definitely a good workout that I suggest to everyone.
The weekend was full of Crossfit Games. Couldn't have asked for a better action! I was like a kid in a candy store when I was by my laptop watching the Games. Pauliina occasionally felt the spirit of the competition with me. Pretty awesome to have a wifey that shares the feelings with me. This competition is like the Olympic Games for me.
Jason Khalipa, finally finishing in 3rd spot
My prediction for the Top 5 were as follows prior to the Games:
Men
1. Rich Froning
2. Scott Panchik
3. Jason Khalipa
4. Matt Fraser
5. Ben Smith
Women
1. Valerie Voboril
2. Julie Foucher
3. Annie Thorisdottir
4. Jenn Jones
5. Kara Webb
On the mens' side I was close with those top guys. Those monsters were all in Top 7 in the final leaderboard. Fraser was even tougher than anticipated finishing in second and beating Khalipa in the process. Froning took 4th consecutive win which is something extraordinary. At this point there's no doubt - if there has ever been - who the king is in this sport. The fittest on earth, no matter what you throw at him, he'll smash it.
The ultimate Champ
I had predicted Valerie Voboril to step up on the first place after finishing 5th and 3rd on the previous 2 years. There were simply more fit women competing against her. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet was the woman to be crowned as the fittest on earth on Sunday night for the first time. This Canadian has always been one of the top girls but she didn't convince before. She really dominated some of the events, muscle-up biathlon pops up to my mind as first thought. She was crazy good! I was cheering for Kara Webb as she was on top of the leaderboard until 9 events. From then on there was a huge meltdown as she couldn't finish 2 workouts in a row and was time capped. That caused her to finally slide all the way to 31st place… I feel sorry for her, she fought bravely for those 9 events.
Anyway, the weekend was extremely fun and exciting to watch and definitely the best time of the year crossfit-wise. And I also get a big training boost for sure! Here's a link to the final leaderboard.
Friday. Strength, back squats 5x3 (across 100kg). Metcon, 7min of. 2-2, 4-4, 6-6 etc, squat clean (70kg) and ring dips. Result, 60 reps.
We got back home last night from Spain. It was a great trip, no doubt about it. Always great to go on holiday. It was a night flight, we departed somewhere around midnight so it wasn't the best of sleep deposited in this body. Got to bed around 8.00 in the morning and slept for 4 hours until noon. In the evening I was exhausted but still determined to hit the gym and get some workout done. I decided to try muscle-up, just to remind my body what it feels like. Then some light back squats because after the american trip my hip flexors got inflamed due to heavy pause squatting after a long flight. In the end I took a short metcon of cleans and dips, inspired by Toni.
Strength.
Back squat 3-3-3-3-3 (across @ 100kg)
Squats are something I always long after if I can't get access to a barbell. I also think a man should be squatting 2-3 times a week to keep the legs strong and improve them. Without squatting that's too difficult. So first session after landing in Finland involved some squats. As I wrote, they were lighter in nature, just triples at 100kg. They caused no problem whatsoever. It felt good to have them and definitely gotta keep 'em in the schedule frequently. Below you'll see most of the sets.
Metcon. Result, 60 reps.
7 min ladder
2-2, 4-4, 6-6… of:
Squat clean, 70kg
Ring dip
I got this from Toni. It looked good on paper immediately and I put it away in my notes right away. Yesterday in the airplane I had time to think about the following days' programming and this popped in to my eye. Decided to give it a go. My energy levels were not through the ceilings so I took it a little easier than I have potential to. I was a bit careful on those hip flexors too because I didn't want to duplicate the problem that happened in the end of May.
This was anyway a good workout. I liked it a lot. Ring dips are not my favorite movement but they are coming better together nowadays as I've done them quite a number. They are not such scary stuff anymore when I put them as part of a metcon. Squat cleans were moderate weight. I'll clean 110+ kilos on a good day so this weight seemed good for today after practically not touching a bar in a week. It's always different to train with bodyweight and barbells.
It was awesome to get back in action for real. I'll keep working myself towards a better athlete tomorrow. This was a good opener for regular training!
Friday. Strength, back squats 3x8 (max 115kg). Hero wod Bell, 3rds of: 21 deads (85kg), 15 pull-ups, 9 front squats (85kg). Time 11.20.
Friday was reserved for some serious leg capacity work. Starting it with squats, high-rep strength sets and then I happened to check out crossfit.com main page and saw the workout of the day which got my attention right away. Seemed to suit well for today's training purposes. In the evening I went to Helsinki for a cruise with my colleagues. Helsinki was very beautiful and lively in downtown. Plus the archipelago seen from the boat was beyond words.
Strength. Squats
Back squats 8-8-8 (105, 110, 115kg)
I had several options for today's squats, I was thinking between front and back squats, thought about doubles, triples and something else. Then I checked my notes in the phone and realized I had already marked there 3x8 so that's what it was gonna be! I took some pause squats and speed squats with lighter weights to activate my lower body. There was some serious mobility prior to touching the barbell.
I had no idea what kind of weights could be possible for 8 reps. So I piled it up to 105kg and started moving. It's a different thing to do triples or 5's than 8 reps. This weight was manageable though. I jumped up with 5kg steps. Next stop at 110kg. Still, I felt there was energy left so couple of minutes later there was 115kg on the bar. That was clearly tougher but it was not the limit, that's for sure. For today's purposes it felt great anyway.
Squats, 115kg
Metcon. Time 11.20
3 rounds of:
21 deadlift, 85kg
15 pull-ups
9 front squat, 85kg (from ground)
Had thought about redoing one of the Regionals events where they had handstand push-ups, front squats and burpees. But pull-ups would have been warmly welcomed too. So after ending up at crossfit.com I saw the workout of the day - Bell - and it seemed to suit perfectly for my intentions. The bar was light for deadlifts but heavy for front squats. The idea was to use the same barbell and thus it's only natural to grab it from the floor also for the squats.
My strategy was to go by feeling. Had no idea how this would suit my system. On the deadlifts I decided not to pursue them unbroken to save my grip for pull-ups. I took them 14-7 on first round and surprisingly it got much tougher on the remaining 2 rounds so I did them 10-6-5. That was kind of startling.
Pull-ups were the easiest part of this workout. Did them unbroken on the first and then 9-6 and 10-5 on the later rounds, not that long break between attempts. But those front squats… Uuh, they were nasty! I had to bear in mind that there was only now barbell at my disposal so I had to clean it before doing those actual reps of front squatting. Didn't wanna do too may extra cleans so I decided to suffer it through whatever it takes to get the squats unbroken. And I did, it was definitely unpleasant.
I believe the first round was 2+ minutes and as the total time was 11.20 you probably see the big picture. It got evil towards the end. But it was a very good workout indeed! I can warmly suggest this workout to anyone.
I had a good feeling about today's workout already before I stepped over the gym's threshold. My gut feeling was on spot. I feel like the programming today was good. Gymnastics to start with, work on those weaknesses. Then old school squat strength, and finishing it off with one qualification workout for Karjalan Kovin, one of the most known Finnish throwdowns.
Our newest family member
Gymnastics. C2B
Chest-to-bar pull-ups
7x6 reps, 0:50 rest between sets
I told about this one to Toni and he knew instantly where I got the idea from. 'Competitorstraining' for sure. Ben Bergeron has come up with a progression for c2b pull-ups. This is the first step, 7x6 reps, totaling 42 reps in 7 minutes. It's kind of like an emom workout for 7min. I thought this is a good starting point because I really wanna excel in c2b's. Regular pull-ups are rolling well already but I want to make this one of my strengths too. Had no problems in manhandling these reps which got my smiling all the way.
Strength. Squats
Back squat 5-5-5-5-5 (100, 110, 120, 120, 120kg)
"Regardless of what the problem is, the answer is to squat". Couldn't agree more with the statement, first introduced us by the founder of Crossfit, Greg Glassman. Lately I've been cleaning a lot as well as putting lots of weight overhead, thus squatting has not been the main focus. I think I'll put more effort on squats in the near future.
This time it was 5-rep sets for a total of 5 sets. Those 120kg sets were tough. They were hard last week too so this means I got to have more weight in my back and do the work. Legs have to be strong in order to do well in this sport. It's a strong prerequisite for having an efficient motor inside as well as strong legs.
Metcon. Result, 4rds + 7 thrusters (97 reps)
Karjalan Kovin, 1st event
5min amrap of:
10 box jump overs
10 thrusters, 40kg
My legs were smashed after having done those squat sets. Took couple of min rest before attacking this 5min amrap. I thought it was short so of course I could go all in even though those legs were screaming for help. High-rep thrusters have always fell short on my shoulders, never on my legs. Have I dropped the barbell on thrusters, it's been because of upper body. Shoulders have gone numb at some point. But legs have always churned on. Today my lower body was jello from the second round on. Guess those squats had their effect on this one.
I did both movements unbroken every round. I have a feeling I could have done these faster with fresh legs, or actually shorten the transition times between sets. It was a good short, intense workout and really got to me. Had to ask Pauliina to shake my legs after the workout, they were in shock after those 5 minutes. That was very helpful.
It sure was a good training day. Gymnastics/skills, strength and a hardcore metcon in the end. And my shoulders were feeling much better than yesterday. The recovery has taken place and they feel fine now. Looking forward to the upcoming week!
Saturday. AM: Workout, emom for 20min, combination of benchmark workouts. Strength, step-ups 5 x 5/5 (80-90kg). PM: Wall ball 100 reps
Even though my body feels tired and aches a little, especially in upper body I decided to go and hit a workout. Simply couldn't stay away =) And I'm glad I didn't. It was a good training session, lots of movement - barbell and man - took place and gains were achieved. One of my little bros had his confirmation party so we drove to my paps place for the afternoon to meet the family. It was some quality time for sure! After coming back home I came up with an idea of going to test the new wall ball. Pauliina was in to the idea so we went to explore the neighborhood for a good spot.
This is some sort of combination of four different benchmark workouts. First minute is one round of Cindy, the second minute is Grace, third one refers to Nate and the fourth minute is obviously Isabel. It is emom style workout which means you complete the defined workload, then recover for the rest of the minute before moving on to the following movements. After four minutes you start over, and continue for a total of 20 minutes.
It's not that easy to say which was the easiest or toughest one. Every set started to feel heavy at some point and it wasn't an easy recovery minute at any time. And my shoulders were burning already before the workout even started. I used same weights on the barbell for clean & jerks and snatches. Beforehand I thought about doing c&j's at 60kg and snatches at 50kg. It was a good decision to go with one barbell. Clean and jerks might still have been the easiest one to handle. 50kg is not that much, I don't remember doing this light reps with this movement.
Those muscle-ups were a disaster. I got the first rep done but from then on it was all fails. They were all close but I couldn't dive through aggressively enough. Plus one round of Nate would include 2 muscle-ups. I knew that would be too much for me as an emom workout. Hspu's and kb swings were okay stuff.
Those snatches surprised me somewhat. Each rep was tough and I had to take them as singles. Body was simply not receptive to these snatches. Used hook grip on most of the reps. 20 minutes was as far as I wanted to go.
Strength.
Step-ups 5 x 5/5 (80, 90, 90, 90, 90kg)
After resting for couple of minutes I still wanted to have something done. That workout burned my legs but there was something left. Squats would have been too much at this point but step-ups felt like a good idea. Haven't done those in ages. Really got to put core to work a lot too to keep the package tight. I took 5 reps with left leg and then 5 reps with right leg. One set with 60kg, another at 80kg and then couple sets with 90kg.
Wall ball.
100 reps
This was fun! I had no goals for this "workout". Just wanted to get used to my wall ball and check it out where would be a good place to throw that ball to the wall. I took 20 reps at first, then couple of 10's and then 15's in the end, short recovery between sets. It wasn't a metcon, more like skills and technique, getting used to the movement.
I've thrown some wall balls earlier but most of the time it's been my brother's self-made basketball filled with sand (9.1kg). Toni's Box has 8kg wb which we played around this Wednesday. This ball is 9kg and is going to be part of my outdoor workouts for sure. My gym's ceiling is not high enough so this could be used there but that's no problem, I'm sure there's gonna be great workouts ahead of me combining wall ball, kettlebells and bodyweight!
Some oly lifting this time. Clean and jerks in a different rep-scheme than normally. Metcon was a chipper, inspired by CF Open 14.4. Got to say that I am done. Gonna eat and sleep now to recover. Juuso hit benchmark workout Christine: 3rds of 500m row, 12 deads (@ bodyweight), 21 box. Tough one, especially on lower body and breathing.
Barbell work.
Clean and jerk
3x10 reps, 60kg
These higher rep-scheme sets are bad ass stuff. I wanted to get couple of sets with the classic 60kg barbell. Ended up doing sets of 10 reps. Recovering enough between sets without any time domain. The first set was way easier than the 2 remaining ones. I battled it through unbroken without having to rest the bar at any point. Just bringing it from ground to overhead and back the same route. Breathing got heavy, no doubt about it.
Second set was tougher. My upper body was pumped up after this set. I got it unbroken as well. I completed the first 8 or 9 reps without having to rest the bar at any point. I stopped the bar in the front rack position for 2-3 seconds before nailing the last rep(s). I felt like a little more rest is needed before getting after the last set.
I was determined to get that third set unbroken too. And I got it. Took a short break in the front rack position after 8 reps, then finished it. The bar is moving okay in my opinion, I'm happy about the outcome of this thing. Of course it got tough but the main thing is that the bar was still moving and I was able to reach those goals I had set.
Chipper. Time 7.36
10 thrusters, 50kg
20 burpees
30 toes-to-bar
40 air squats
50 pull-ups
I thought about doing a chipper style workout in the end. Mostly bodyweight but thrusters to begin with. My juice was all gone after the burpees. That was a sign my body was not at its freshest shape. Ten thrusters and 20 burpees shouldn't consume all strength from my body =) I went through the t2b's, first a 10, then 5's. On the pull-ups I also did a 10 in the beginning, then 5's. It was surprisingly tough, I thought I'd push this through without not having to break it so much.
The session was good. Clean & jerks were awesome. Tough, manageable and it felt good. On the chipper I got breathing go heavy even though muscles started to bail on me.
Wednesday. Benchmark workout Barbara, 5 rounds of: 20 pull-ups, 30 push-ups, 40 sit-ups, 50 air squats, 3min rest between rounds. Time 32.51 (including rest).
I thought it would be a good time to go purely at bodyweight for a while. This benchmark workout has been on my mind for about a week so I decided to hit it. The memory I have from previous time I did this one is that it took me 3 days to recover. That was a good starting point =)
It felt horrible! After 3 rounds of this workout it felt very challenging. My strategy was totally different today compared to the first Barbara I did. Maybe today's version was not the best one I suppose. At least as I compare the total time. Last time I did first rounds unbroken on the pull-ups and then as many reps as possible later in the workout. This time I intentionally broke it already on the first round. I did something like 13+7. I thought breaking the sets in the beginning would save my upper body and then it would be easier to work on the push-ups. That's because they are my goat, a weakness I haven't put enough focus on to get them rolling well.
Breaking the sets didn't help at all. Maybe I should have just gone through the sets unbroken for couple of rounds. I know I could have done it. My body was a little smashed and tired in the beginning but I still believe I could've done it. The push-ups were tough already in the beginning. In the later rounds it was a little pathetic how challenging they turned out for me. I tend to do push-ups with very narrow grip.
Sit-ups were the easiest part of the workout. No doubt. I completed them unbroken each round, the last 2 rounds were a bit tough but it was manageable all the time. It felt like a vacation after having done pull-ups and push-ups.
It turned out my legs were tired because I had to break the squats each round. I remember having nailed the squats unbroken last time, at least in the beginning. Now they felt like lead all the way. My legs barely carried me after the workout. In fact, they were so weak I thought I might fall any minute, and my calves and thighs were cramping.
Crossfit Games Update, Malleolo dominated 14.3
Sit-ups were the easiest, then pull-ups. Squats smashed my legs but the most difficult part was push-ups. I think I'll just add the movement to my metcon routines. Got to be better at them. I checked what I wrote last time on Barbara. It seems the sit-ups brought some issues then, but not today. Push-ups were toughest then as well. And squats were easier back then. On the pull-ups I had a different strategy.
This lady is a bad ass. There was a total of 700 reps, 100 pull-ups, 150 push-ups, 200 sit-ups and 250 squats. Hopefully I'll be able to recover faster than last time. That would be recommendable! My pal Toni was thinking about going after Barbara soon too. I'd like to hear how he nails this.
Wednesday. Skills, ring muscle-ups. Strength, back squats 4x3 across (135kg). Pair wod, 3 rounds of: athlete 1 rows for 500m, in the mean while other athlete completes 10hspu and rest of time air squats.
C'mon! This time I dominated the workouts. First of all, ring skills. I've had serious problems with the rings lately. For today I had done my home work and was ready to conquer them. Secondly, heavy back squats were a pleasure. Definitely a success story right there. Thirdly, I got a chance to do a pair workout with Toros, the same guy as yesterday. He's good guys, definitely going to hit more pair workouts in the future with him.
Skills.
Ring muscle-ups
Complete 5 reps
I had written in my phone in advance that "ring muscle-ups (complete 5 reps)". Plus I watched Rich Froning threaten gravity on the rings in the Crossfit Games 2013. I just posted the Cinco 1 & 2 workouts video in the blog. I watched him complete the reps unbroken and with such a quick transition that it was easy to make some mental training in my head yesterday and today before gym.
Chalked my hands and grabbed the rings. I only had in mind the speed of Froning and tried to replicate that. The feeling was super as I landed nicely on the rings. Tried another one and got it too. At that point I reminded myself all the time about the quickness of the transition, it's the key to success. Was able to got to those 5 reps in total. That's the furthest I've ever gone with ring mu's.
Strength. Heavy squats
3-3-3-3 back squats, all sets @ 135kg
Yes! Got all 4 triple sets done with 135kg. That's unbelievable for me. I've progressively increased the weights as my "coach" at home has pushed me. First it was doubles at 130kg, then triples and finally 4's. As I got them up, I increased the load to 135kg and I've taken doubles with that weight earlier so today it was time for triples.
Big thing is also that I've got used to bigger weights which is a huge mental barrier that has now overcome. I'm very happy with this. I decided beforehand that I'm gonna take these sets up, 4 sets @ 135kg. The last rep was quite tough on at least 2 of the last sets. It was a lot of growling as I was getting myself up from the hole.
Metcon. Pair wod
3 rounds of:
Athlete 1 rows for 500m
Athlete 2 completes 10 handstand push-ups and rest of time max reps air squats
Result 60 + 40 + 40 air squats
Yep, Toros and I hit another pair workout in a row. This was a surprise call. I had rowing and hspu's in mind during the day so it was natural to do it as a pair wod too. The point was that the other one was rowing all the time. While the other one rowed, the other one completed 10 hspu's. Toros did 10 pull-ups, either on pull-up bar or rings. After 10 reps had been done, the rest of the time was max reps of air squats.
First of all, I got the hspu's unbroken on each of the three rounds. That was cool. On the first round I got to 60 squats. It really ate my legs alive, they were done after the first round. On the second and third round I got 40 reps both round. The most horrible thing was the rowing. It felt like I had no strength left anymore in my lower body. My pace was about 1.40 on the first round and 1.47 on the last one.
It was a perfect training session! Ring muscle-ups + heavy back squats + pair workout- Couldn't ask for more.
Friday. Skills, muscle-ups. Metcon, half Murphy: 800m run, 10 rounds of Cindy, 800m run. For completion.
Last day of holiday so it was definitely a drive to Liikuntamylly once more. It was an easier day for a reason. I wasn't ready to hit another tough day with heavy barbells. So I stayed at skills and a metcon of running and bodyweight movements. It was a good decision, that's for sure.
Skills.
Ring muscle-ups
Bar muscle-ups
I was prepared to work on the rings longer than normally and hit several reps. One thing I've noticed though. When my body is tired, I find it difficult to get any reps done on the rings. Bar mu's, no problem, but ring mu's are very challenging. Today was one of those days. The only reason I didn't take a rest day, is because I had the possibility to come to Liikuntamylly. It's a rarity so I definitely ain't gonna skip it! And I'm glad I came. It was just too much for my body on the rings. I took a couple of misses and then focused on the bar muscle-ups.
Metcon. For completion
800m run
50 pull-ups
100 push-ups
150 squats
800m run
You can partition the movements as you wish
I took it without any stress today and completed a bodyweight metcon. Murphy is a her workout, 1 mile run, 20 rounds of Cindy followed by another 1 mile run. That's rough. I decided to make it a half Murphy, cutting the number of reps and meters to half. 800m run on both ends of the workout and then 10 rounds of Cindy. In Murphy you can partition the 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups and 300 squats as you like. I've understood people traditionally run them through as a 20-round Cindy, a.k.a. 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats per round, a total of 20 rounds.
This metcon felt better than I thought. I wasn't so gassed and it didn't feel as bad as I thought it might. That was a great surprise. I did this for completion, not for time, didn't have a timer running, no idea how much it took.
Recap
It has been an awesome week. My holiday weeks tend to be the best training days as the opportunities are endless and I get to work on my oly lifts in places that are normally out of reach. I saw a PR in Grace earlier this week. I was also able to practice on my handstand skills and bar muscle-ups. It was also cool to mix running into my workouts, in metcons and as intervals, love it! In other words, I worked on my weaknesses.
Monday. Back squats with a pause (max 110kg). Overhead squats with a 10sec pause (max 60kg). Metcon, 3rds of: 15 burpees, 20 front squats (60kg), 25 box. Time 13.00.
Squats! Awesome, I decided to try squats with a pause also on back squats, it was the first time. Previously I've done front squats and ohs with a pause, and it was as phenomenal with back squats too, must say. The metcon was brutal, simply brutal…
View from our hotel window last Saturday, not bad, scenery over Tampere
Skills.
Ring row transitions.
I'm taking some muscle-up progressions into warm-up section for some skills training just become better with the rings. Today I didn't move to actual ring muscle-ups, just worked on ring rows and the transition stage from pull to the dip. It was a good one. Maybe tomorrow I'll hit some more mu training.
Strength. Squats
Back squats with a pause 5x5 (80, 100, 105, 110, 110kg)
Overhead squats with a 10sec pause 5x1 (50, 55, 60, 60, 60kg)
These are great! Don't get me wrong, you got to do regular squats too but these are newcomers in my training program and I want to keep it versatile so that my body don't get used to repeating same movement patterns every time. And putting "ass to grass" definitely improves mobility in the hips. Stopping in the hole activates muscles in a different way once you try to dig yourself up from there. It's a totally different movement to keep body on a movement all the time than staying and stopping in the bottom position.
I took sets of 5 on back squats. The first set was clearly lighter and concentrated in getting better prepared for the upcoming sets. THe 4th set was @ 110kg and seemed to be a bit tough so I took the last set at the same weight. They came up nicely. Had to catch a breath in the middle but legs held well. The weights are clearly different compared to regular squats.
This was the second time in a week as I was hitting overhead squats with a 10 second pause in the bottom position. Last time I took the heaviest reps @ 50kg. Today I wanted to upgrade that and worked to 60kg barbell. It was very well managed and I guess I must go heavier next time. The hardest thing seemed to be bringing the bar down without dropping it. Haha, no but it was a great exercise for the catch for the squat snatch. This will definitely bring confidence in the catch and bottom position. Take a look at the videos of both squat versions.
Metcon. Time 13.00
3 rounds of:
15 burpees
20 front squats, 60kg
25 box jumps, 61cm
Killer! The workout was a leg-burner. No rest or lighter part for lower body at any stage. I understood that before jumping onto the workout so I decided to have a break after the movements. It was only 3 rounds but gassing myself in the beginning would have been a disaster. It was tough even without rushing it so it turned out to be a good idea.
I got the idea for this workout from my brother who had done something similar. The box jumps were probably the most challenging part of it. Surprisingly the burpees were the "easiest" of them. Doing this kind of metcon after squats is a tough decision. But hey, you got to be prepared for anything at any given moment so why not go for it!
What a training day! My shoulders are so messed up from busting my ass off at the gym. Got to give my pal Joni some credit from bringing the metcon in to my knowledge he had seen somewhere. I don't know if I like that he tipped it to me or not. It was a rough one! Plus there were some serious presses and jerks done prior to the metcon so it had its own flavor in the mix too. Took me some time to recover for sure.
Overhead complex. Presses / jerks.
5 working sets of:
1 shoulder press + 3 push press + 5 push jerks
Barbell at 60kg in each set
This was something new and definitely worked to increase strength and muscle endurance. The weight was good for 5 sets. I wanted the weight to be across, i.e. same weight in all working sets. Took warm-up sets with 40 and 50kg. Shoulder press was the limiting factor for which it would have been difficult trying to add kilos on the barbell. I can shoulder press 75kg for a single but doing 65-70kg after couple of sets would have been very challenging. Plus there was a total of 9 reps per set so 60kg turned out to be great this time.
It was also cool to mix these three different style of shoulder-to-overhead movements into each other and practice on the various lifts together. About a year ago we used to have lots of press days with Toni where we worked on our shoulder strength, starting at shoulder press and once the bar went heavier we transitioned it to push press. Those were great workouts too.
The last set was quite tough and it took some minutes to recover and get ready for the upcoming metcon. Could not have moved directly to it because the work load for shoulders was burdening. Got to try this one another time as well.
Recap of overhead complex
Twisted Cindy. Result 341 reps.
20min amrap of:
1 clean & jerk (60kg) + 1 round of Cindy (5pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 air squats)
2 clean & jerks + 1 round of Cindy
3 clean & jerks + 1 round of Cindy…
Gee, thanks Joni =) He just mentioned it by accident one day and it stayed in my mind to haunt. Kind of a Cindy but you'll have to complete 1 clean & jerk on the first round, then 2 reps on the second, always increasing 1 more c&j after every round of pull-ups, push-ups and squats. Cindy is one classical benchmark workout to test one's fitness. Tough test indeed.
Those clean & jerks were absolutely the hardest part of this one. I got to 9 full rounds of the workout and on the last round I completed 10 c&j's, 5 pull-ups and 1 push-up. Damned they were tough. For a long time after the workout I felt like my shoulders were on fire. I went unbroken with bodyweight movements from the beginning to the end but had to cut the c&j's after 6 rounds.
I realized the nature of this workout already after 3-4 rounds. It was a lots of work. And once it was a long workout I decided before the workout not to rush and gas myself out. Because the first rounds might be easy and you could rattle them through quickly but it would definitely get back at you after a short while. So I took my time with the transition before grabbing the bar for clean & jerks.
For first 6 rounds I got the c&j's unbroken, the 7th round was 5+2, 8th round was 5+3 and the 9th was 6+3. On the last round I got 4+3+3 reps. It was bad when I had to let go of the bar. It's not easy to go for another rep right away. That's why I tried to do it unbroken for as long as possible.
Good workout indeed and perfect training session. This took my breath away and was definitely one of the toughest in a while!
